Murdered elderly woman was BJP worker, accused killed her to clear his debt of Rs 30 lakh

BENGALURU: Initial investigation into the brutal murder of a septuagenarian woman in KR Puram has revealed that she was a BJP worker. The accused admitted to the crime and said that he had killed for money.

The deceased Susheelamma (76) originally hailed from Chikkaballapur and settled in the City. She was living in a leased house after the sale of her property. Susheelamma had two daughters and a son, but lived separately. Susheelamma’s younger daughter also lived in the same building. The son used to give Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 to his mother every month.

Sometimes, when Susheelamma left home, she would not return for two to three days. Therefore, the children did not bother much to search for her. Hence, the murder came to light late.

Locals, who had noticed a 10-litre capacity drum lying abandoned in one of the lanes in Nisarga Layout informed the police on Sunday. The police immediately rushed to the spot and found the body of an old woman inside the drum.

The police arrested a suspected accused Dinesh after the sniffer dogs led them to his house nearby. Susheelamma knew him from the previous election campaign and he would often visit her.

On Sunday too, Susheelamma’s granddaughter saw her talking to Dinesh, which led to increased suspicion on him. The police also arrested his accomplices on suspicion. The accused admitted to the crime, and the police suspect that he killed the woman for money or for other reasons. Dinesh is currently being questioned by the police.

Dinesh was working with the Merchant Navy in Chennai four years ago. Later, he left the job there and settled in KR Puram. He had borrowed from many financiers and of late, harassment from the  borrowers has increased and they would even come to his house for  repayment.

Dinesh knew that the woman had sold some property and got crores of rupees, so he had asked her for money. He also had his eyes on her gold jewellery. However, Susheelammma she refused to give him any money.

Hence, as per his plan, he called her home and strangled her to death on February 24. Later, he robbed her gold jewellery except the earrings, when there was no one else at his house. Then, he got money after mortgaging the jewellery. The accused was with the lifeless body in his own house for a full day. The next morning, at 3.30 am, he cut the body into pieces, bought a drum and dustbin cover near the KR Puram bus stand. He had planned dump the dismembered body in the Avalahalli.

Before going to the dump the body, he switched off the streetlight that is in front of the house. Later, he took the drum and abandoned it in  one of the lanes. The face of the accused was identified while checking CCTV footage from the area.

Recently, Dinesh had tried to get involved in politics as he had no other job, and would identify himself as a BJP worker. He had debt of about Rs 30 lakh.